Ian's 1st birthday party

Sorry I haven't updated the blog in 2 months!! We have been super busy, but as I have 4 dozen cupcakes baking in the oven for bake sale, I figured I could squeeze in a quick blog entry.
On October 27 our sweet baby Ian turned 1 YEAR OLD!! The year went by so quickly- it makes me so sad! But we had a great Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party at the Blue Marine pool in Maho!

Jordan grilled hamburgers and hotdogs at our friends Kerri and Dave's house, then we were joined at the pool by our closest friends. The weather was perfect- hot and sunny! My friend Kim with Black Cat Cafe made 4 dozen cupcakes and Ian's Mickey Mouse smash cake- they were amazing! And my friend Jackie surprised me with a high chair banner handmade with love! Several friends brought gifts which was so sweet (even though it was a no gift party!) 

At 6pm, when the sun went down, the pool lights turned neon so that was extra fun for the kids. It was a great party! and it reminded me how much work it is to throw a birthday party, but definitely worth it. My kids only get one birthday party during our time in St. Maarten, and since both of my boys birthdays are in the fall/winter this will probably be their only birthday in swimsuits! 

My experience with Zika

So since I posted on my FB that I had contracted the Zika virus I had a lot of people messaging me asking questions about it so I thought I'd just do a blog entry on my experience. Here is the CDC: Zika website with facts, but this is my personal experience. From what I read symptoms vary, but this is what happened to me:

So Thursday of last week I woke up with, what I thought was, a goose egg on the back of my head closer to my neck. It was pretty good size and very tender to touch so I spent some time trying to figure out when I had bumped my head! That afternoon I felt SO tired, like I could barely keep my eyes open. I decided to lay down and nap with Ian in the afternoon which I very rarely do. When I woke up I knew I had to get ready for my Spouses Org meeting, but I felt so achey that I just wanted to keep sleeping. I had to force myself to get ready. By the time I left for the meeting I felt like I was freezing and had a splitting headache. Our meeting was at an outdoor restaurant and I was shivering the entire time. I didn't last long, because I just wanted to go back home. I walked home, which in reality isn't a long walk at all, but it felt like it took forever. I was drenched in sweat, but freezing at the same time. I got home and immediately took some Benadryl and tried to fall asleep. Luckily Jordan had already put the boys to sleep. I could not sleep though..every joint ached, and I was shivering so my whole body just hurt. I took my temperature and it was 102 degrees. My fever finally broke around 4am and I was able to fall asleep.

 Thankfully on Friday Jordan didn't have class until 10:30am so he let me sleep in. When I woke up I felt better, but still had a headache. I had Jordan examine my "goose egg" on the back of my head in which he determined was a swollen lymph node. Obviously I was fighting some kind of infection, he figured it was either sinusitis or the flu because of the body aches. I carried on Friday and felt decent, until the evening I developed a fever again! Tylenol helped, but when I woke up Saturday morning I noticed I was itchy all over. I didn't think anything of it because I have sensitive skin anyway. It was a beautiful day so I took the boys outside to take some photos of them and that's when I noticed I had developed a rash everywhere. When I looked in the mirror I freaked out because my face was swollen, red and splotchy and radiated heat. I couldn't even capture on camera exactly what the rash looked like.

 I sent a picture to Jordan and he was like "umm yea you have some kind of mosquito borne illness" so we decided to go to the St. Maarten Medical Clinic to get checked out. I did labwork, but as soon as the doctor looked over my rash he said it was either Dengue, but 99% positive it was Zika. He even discouraged me to get tested, and I have a personal theory on why he didn't want me tested, but I will keep that to myself. For now there's nothing I can do except ride the virus out. I can't be out in the sun because it makes my skin swell and itch even worse so my poor kids are stuck inside with me :(
Oh, and I also had my broken finger x-rayed and it is still broken and I was referred for physical therapy because the finger doesn't bend, people. So yea, basically I'm a mess! Luckily the rest of my family is happy and healthy. Oh, island life.

Updates- beginning of 3rd semester

I can't believe it's already 1st block week! Being on the Spouses Board has kept me super busy so time is flying- which, to me, is a good thing. I have a quick minute so I figured I'd update with all that we've all been up to.

The first week The Spouses Org hosted a meet and greet for incoming spouses, I hosted playgroups and movie nights the past 2 weeks, and helped run a coffee cart shift where we sell coffee and breakfast items to students. This past weekend we hosted a luncheon for all spouses at the Sapphire Beach Club as a "welcome back." This week is the first bake sale of the semester, so I'm looking forward to that. So yes, it definitely keeps me busy, but in a good way.

Playgroup

Me and Ian at the luncheon- gotta love my broken finger!!

Bradley started his 3rd semester of preschool at the same place he's been going since we arrived in St. Maarten. He enjoys going so I will continue to take him. When we get back in the states next August I'm going to try to get him enrolled in a pre-k. He loves being around friends and learning. He's just like his dad- too smart for his own good. He makes me really proud!

Ian is now 10mos old and cutting teeth like crazy! He currently has 4, but his 2 front, top teeth have sprouted through. We have had a really rough turn in regards to his sleep the past month though. He only sleeps for about 2-3hrs at a time!! Yikes! I try to blame teething, but I honestly don't know what the issue is. He still nurses about 3-4 times a day and then 1-2 times throughout the night. He eats some baby foods, but still doesn't act all that interested in food in general. He crawls and pulls himself up on everything. I have also caught him standing alone, not holding onto anything a few times too. I've offered him a sippy cup a few times, but they just get used as toys :) He's such a sweetie.

I think that's all that's new with us. Jordan is still an anatomy Teachers Assistant (TA) once a week and joined the Emergency Medicine Student Interest Group (EMSIG). Studying is still his #1 priority, but still makes plenty of time for us too :)

Oh- last update: Blueberry, our car, is dunzo. Almost every week since we bought it there has been an issue..the last issue being the subframe is rusted/broken, leaving the A-Arms in bad condition and unsafe driving condition. In order for our car to pass the yearly inspection we'd have to get these things fixed and it is just way too expensive and unreliable at the moment. Being on such a tight budget, we've decided to just cut our losses and try to sell it to a local for parts. RIP Blueberry. We bought a new(er) car from another 5th semester student- a 2006 Hyundai Accent that should be more reliable for the next year we're here on the island.

2nd semester break

I can't believe we're already back to the 'ol grind :( Jordan started his 3rd semester (aka 2nd year) on Tuesday and is already back into his daily routine. We spent the past 2 weeks on break and it was awesome!
We celebrated Jordan's finals with dinner at Pineapple Pete's. Anyone travelling to St. Maarten I've found that Pineapple Pete's is one of the most kid friendly restaurants- they give your kids a toy car to keep and always bring their food first, and ice cream is included in the kid's meal..it's the little things..highly recommended!

Prior to break I had made a "to do" list of things I wanted to do so that we didn't end up just wasting time thinking "What should we do today?!" We surprisingly only went to the beach two times during the 2 weeks- once to Le Galion and once to Mullet Bay for a birthday party. We celebrated a lot of birthdays!! Bradley had 3 friends that had birthday parties so it was fun to get together with all the kids, and even meet some incoming spouses!

We ate out at least one meal per day which is such a rarity for us. We typically only eat out as an after block celebration so that was a real treat. One night we went to Caribbean Cinemas to watch Pete's Dragon which...was rough. Ian was pretty squirmy and Bradley ended up having an accident because he was so intrigued by the movie. We probably won't be doing movies, as a family at least, until Ian is quite a bit older. I also started watching Game of Thrones (Jordan actively watches) and we got through season II after the kids would go to sleep.

We went down to frontstreet in Phillipsburg for dining and shopping one day and got a flat tire so we had to get 2 new tires :( Jordan also had to do some car work on poor Blueberry. Sigh! Jordan and I were able to get in one date night over break thankfully! Special shoutout to Laura, Aimee and Gozzie for watching the boys. We ate at Jimbo's in Simpson Bay and it was delish. We went to the Princess Casino afterwards and didn't lose any money! Jordan and I were also able to have a Dad/Mom date with our friends Nicole and Ivan and their son Magnus (Ian's bff) which is always fun.

Overall, it was a great break and I was sad to see it end! But we've booked our flight back home for Christmas so I'm already looking forward to that!

**Edit!! I forgot to add that I broke my finger over break as well! I slipped down 3 slippery steps at a restaurant and my left index finger took the beating. Swelling and bruising is down significantly, but it's in a splint for roughly 3 weeks :(

Life Update

Wow, it's been a full month since I updated the blog! Sorry about that! I figured I'd take some time to update what we've been up to.

First of all..we moved! At the beginning of August we moved out of the 2 bedroom condo at Arbor Estates into a 1 bedroom apartment across the street at Rainbow Beach Club. Now, a family of 4 in a 1 bedroom apartment is definitely not ideal, but after 8 months we realized it was the best option for us. The main reason is that island living is expensive, way more so than we are used to in the midwest. Not getting too personal, but the budget was not working for our family. We will also have a lot of expenses coming up in the next year with moving back to the United States for clinical rotations and taking time off for the Step 1 exam. We figured we would take this next year to save as much money as we can. While we are a little more cramped in our new place, we are satisfied with our decision to move.

Secondly, we wrapped up Jordan's 1st year of medical school last week! Whew, what a whirlwind of a year it has been. Second semester, block 4 was the most challenging for Jordan, but he buckled down for finals and ended up honoring all three. Way to go, Jordan! Words cannot express how proud I am. Medical school, while personally challenging at times, has been the best thing for our marriage. It is so awesome to see your spouse really passionate about what they're doing. 

Thirdly, I've joined the Spouses Board! I knew I wanted to be involved with the organization since last semester, but wasn't sure if I could manage the time with the 2 kids. Luckily the past Board were all Moms so they were great examples. We have a great group of Spouses on the board and I'm sure it'll be a wonderful 2 semesters full of events and get togethers to support all of the incoming spouses and families. I'm the new Family Liaison so I will be coordinating the kids' playgroups and movie nights, etc. My friend Jackie was the previous Family liaison so I have big shoes to fill!

I think that's all to update on. Bradley is now 3.5 and gearing to go back to his 3rd semester of preschool, and Ian turns 10 months old later this week! We are currently on break between semesters and enjoying our time as a family. I will blog about some of the fun things we've done on break next week! Thanks for following along!

Pinel Island & Birthday Parties

I feel a little behind on keeping this blog updated! I can't believe it's already the end of July; it has really been a busy and eventful month.
July is a month full of birthdays!! A lot of our friends and island kids have birthdays and of course we want to celebrate them all! We started off the 1st week of July celebrating Bindi's 3rd birthday at Kim Sha beach in Simpson Bay. We love Kim Sha and Bindi so win-win! She had a great turnout at her super hero party- we have a really awesome group of kiddos and even more coming next month in the upcoming semester!

Then the 2nd weekend a group of us went to Pinel Island for Andrea and Bret's (Jordan's classmates) birthdays. We had been wanting to go to Pinel for quite a while so this was the perfect opportunity. Ok- Pinel is perfect. It is an island within an island so you either need to take a ferry boat for $12 or kayak (not sure on price) over there. We took the Ferry and rented chairs and an umbrella at Yellow Beach. There is another beach on Pinel Karibuni, and maybe a few more private areas, but we didn't really leave Yellow Beach. There are 2 restaurants, but we brought a cooler of sandwiches and drinks. 

We stayed at Pinel until they closed for the day and it still didn't seem like enough time, even though we were so worn out. Afterwards we went back to Porto for birthday cake. It was a really fun day with such a diverse and awesome group of people. This past Friday night we were able to get a babysitter for the evening (Thanks Nicole!!) to go to dinner at Bamboo in Maho for Robert's 25th birthday. We love Robert; he is a great friend of ours so we were so glad to be able to get away without the kids for a short amount of time. I tried sushi for the 1st time in Robert's honor and actually enjoyed it! Another awesome night in the books!

The celebrations are going to start slowing down a bit though as next week is block week then the week after is finals. Then a 2 week break before 3rd semester that we are desperately looking forward to!! 

Taste of St. Maarten + Parrotte Ville

Last weekend Jordan took a family day before block week. We headed out to Simpson Bay for the 9th annual Taste of St. Maarten at Topper's Beach Bar. There was a variety of restaurants set up offering a sample of their food for a discounted price. Bradley got some cheeseburger sliders, I got a pulled pork sandwich from Hard Rock St. Maarten and Jordan got some indian food. Everything was delicious! They had a kids corner set up with a water slide, dunk tank, face painting, etc. Bradley even went down the big water slide twice! If you know Bradley this was huge for him- he's pretty timid and anxious about trying new things, but he made it and loved it. We walked from Topper's over to Kim Sha beach and rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for the afternoon. We swam for a bit, then just hung out the rest of the afternoon. As we were leaving we saw some of our friends so we hung out for a little bit longer. We plan on going next year for the 10th annual as well!

On Wednesday we met up with our mom friends from the Spouses Org to take the kiddos to Parrotte Ville. Parrotte Ville is in Belvedere, close to the French side of St. Maarten. Luckily my friend Juliana and her two boys drove with us or else I would have been lost! I think every mom was able to come so we had a packed house in the bird enclosure. We were given cups to hold with bird feed then the bird would fly and land on your cup. It was really interesting! Bradley even held a cup with a bird on it- again, a big step in overcoming some anxiety. We had a great time even though it was super, super humid. We have a really awesome group of moms and kiddos. I feel really grateful to be a part of the Spouses Organization.

The rest of the week was training for the Spouses Board on coffee cart, hot food Friday, and bake sale, but more on that later ;)